Former Melbourne AFL footballer Joel MacDonald will take his logistics management platform, GetSwift, public via an ASX listing to raise $5 million.

Unlike most early stage businesses that go to the public markets as a source of capital, though, GetSwift does not need the cash.

GetSwift chairman, former media executive and Blue Chilli president Bane Hunter, said the capital raising was aimed at proving the long-term viability of the business to prospective customers, who expressed concerns about its cash levels when doing due diligence.

"So the primary reason for listing, for us, is the issue of visibility and governance. Then, heart on hand, we wanted to show that you can use Australian institutions to leverage your global penetration," Mr Hunter said.

Joel MacDonald in 2012 during an AFL match, a game that taught him to get back up after a knockdown and do it for your team.
Sebastian Costanzo

The start-up has constructed a series of algorithms which let businesses optimise delivery routes, streamline their dispatching and task assignment, send branded alerts automatically to customers about their orders, and capture digital proof of delivery via photos or signatures.

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Mr MacDonald founded GetSwift off the back of his experiences running the delivery start-up Liquorun.

"As it continued to grow and expand around Australia we ran into the same challenges: where is the driver; who to dispatch jobs to; and how to optimise the most efficient route," he said.

"Technology can solve all of these problems, but when we looked at it from a 30-foot overview, we realised it was a much larger problem on a global scale. But unless you have the budget of an Uber or a Domino's, most companies can't solve these problem profitably."

While GetSwift started off as a product to help manage Liquorun's logistics, it quickly emerged as a stronger business in its own right and won the interest of major US business Whole Foods, who invited the company to the US.

In the past 16 months the business has grown from nothing, to being used in more than 50 countries by companies such as Instacart, Lion Nathan and Shopwings.

In the last financial year it banked $348,404 in revenue, and through the listing it will be valued at just over $25 million.

Listing rules

The company is tracking towards a December listing. Also in December, the ASX is considering introducing tighter listing rules, meaning companies with less than $5 million in net tangible assets and also valued at less than $20 million would be blocked from the exchange.

GetSwift clears these hurdles.

"We've reviewed these requirements and we pass both tests, so for us, we think it is a positive outcome for the whole ecosystem," Mr Macdonald said.

GetSwift has an issue price of 20¢ a share and Cygnet Capital has been managing the raise.

While the company has just filed its prospectus, it has already completed its roadshow and Mr Hunter said there was a high degree of interest.

"We met with a number of institutions, private wealth funds and also brokers, and universally we were well received," he said. "I've been on a number of roadshows from the other sides, and it could not have gone better."

Mr MacDonald said he was aware of the challenges young companies faced in going public, such as investor scrutiny when the business model is still being finalised, but he was prepared to tackle them head on.

"It comes down to our communication. What you see and what we say is what you get. Every change we make will be raw, honest and directly communicated with the public. That's how you build trust and transparency with shareholders," he said.

"I was an average footballer. But moving into this game that we call business, you get knocked ... and it's not just for two hours, it's 24 hours a day. I built the ability to take those knockdowns and get back up and do it for your team, your fans and even Australia."